On April 5th, a fire on Iowa Avenue in Palisade covered the valley in puffs of smoke. Emergency responders were on the scene quickly, where they found six people displaced and the apartment complex totally lost. An 18 year old Palisade woman was killed in the fire.

As investigators looked more into this case, they began to believe the fire had been set intentionally. They traced the suspects phone to Leadville Colorado where he was found deceased, his cause of death was ruled a suicide. On April 10, The Mesa County Sheriff, Palisade Police, and Palisade Fire departments came together for a press conference that revealed everything they knew for fact. Palisade Fire Chief, Charles Balke, told reporters, “Here’s what we know and can confirm: on Friday, April 5th, 2024, at 7:15 am the Palisade Fire Department was dispatched for a report of an apartment explosion with the building fully engulfed. During the course of the investigation, we did unfortunately confirm there was one fatality. At this time based on a thorough and professional fire investigation, we can confirm the fire was indeed an intentional act.” This tragedy has obviously hit the small community of Palisade extremely hard, but Palisade Police Chief Jesse Stanford told the community, “It’s going to take time, just like Chief Balke said, it’s going to take time, but us staying together and staying strong but were going to makes heads or tails of this but we’re all going to move on together.”

This may be a hard time for plenty of students, please know that there is support within our local community and school. You are not alone, Palisade’s counselors and teachers are here for you and together we will move forward.